HOBBEMA — Three teenagers have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a five-year-old boy on a central Alberta reserve.
The youths appeared in court Wednesday and will make their next court appearance June 9.
The teens were arrested and charged Jan. 10, 2012 following an investigation into the July 2011 death of Ethan Yellowbird.
The little boy was sleeping in his bed when he was struck in the head by a bullet that was fired into his home on the Samson reserve at Hobbema, Alta.
Police say the teens were 13, 16 and 17 at the time of the shooting and are all from the Hobbema area.
The Samson reserve is one of four in the vicinity. The First Nation has struggled with gang violence for years.